More Countries Join the New List of 100 Busiest Train Stations, Japan Still Claims 82 of Them

A few days after a mysterious list of the 51 busiest train stations in the world emerged on the Internet an expanded version listing the 100 busiest train stations around the globe has shown itself.

Although other countries such as China and Germany made appearances, the densely populated island of Japan still holds 82 of the bustling transport hubs. And while Japan seems full of stations that resemble Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, only the top 10 are really that freakishly large and chaotic.

We’ve probably all seen the world famous images of Japanese commuters being shoved onto a train like so many complimentary hotel towels into a suitcase. Still, let’s see it again because it’s funny.

Actually, for the most part the trains run smoothly and people board and get off in an orderly fashion. The drivers are professional and conduct things (mostly) like a perfectionist.

For example, here’s a platform for the Yamanote Line at the busiest train station in the world, Shinjuku Station. Despite the hundreds of people lining the platforms, trains smoothly roll in and out every two minutes or so stopping for a mere 40 seconds at a time. Check it out for some medium-paced, orderly action!

Even in the heavy snow of 14 January in Tokyo, the evenly paced trains continued unabated. At about 55 seconds into this video, you can see one driver even implement the “time to lean, time to clean” principle during his brief stop.

Delays can happen like when some poor soul chooses to use a train to end their life, but even in the busiest of stations, the trains run on time.

And so without further ado, here is the expanded list of 100 busiest train stations in the world. These figures are ranked on the number of passengers per year. Again, this data came to light with very little in the way of details such as transfers being included or the year measured, and could easily be subject to change.